One enclave, two histories

THE history of Macau is one of peace and profit; of East and West coming together and co-existing side by side, enriching each other culturally, linguistically and financially.

Or, it is one of hairy, baby-eating barbarians descending in their demonic black ships to bully their way into the lucrative silk and spice trade, poisoning the Middle Kingdom with the rancid waft of imperialism and poor personal hygiene.

Confused? Plough through a few history books and you will be.

There is no shortage of tomes purporting to tell the Macau story, but most boast more cultural bias than a French embassy on Bastille Day. As the hours tick away towards the handover, it seems there remains to be written an accurate and definitive history of the enclave. Given its unique and influential role in bringing together East and West, this seems hard to believe, if not downright scandalous.

According to Professor Fok Kai-cheong, a historian at the University of Macau, both Portuguese and Chinese historians have long been mired in politics and their own perspectives. History is said to be written by the winners. In this case, both sides have been doing their utmost to paint themselves as such: the Portuguese as benevolent administrators who are bowing out gracefully after a long and successful reign, the Chinese as victims of the wicked imperialist oppressor ready to 'end the humiliation', as their unofficial handover slogan would have it.

'From the professional historian's point of view, there's no such thing as the Portuguese version of history or the Chinese version of history,' Professor Fok says. 'There's just history.' He says the biggest stumbling block has been a dearth of decent historians prepared to devote serious time and effort to the topic. 'For a long time, there were no professional historians in Macau. It's been left in the hands of amateurs,' he says.